Charles Vergos Rendezvous

Yummy, but messy. more

Yummy, but messy. more

I see now why Corky's is rated #1 BBQ in Memphis. Pros: upstairs waiting area nice...nostalgic, historically accurate ornate look Cons: filthy restaurant with lousy food more

Food is definitely the focus here. The BBQ is great and large portions. We had the house specialty pork ribs which were tasty, falling off the bone. Don't expect much on sides, small dixie cups of coleslaw (too vinegary) and beans and some white bread. We didn't try their sausage and cheese appetizer which they're known for but we saw other orders and wish we had. Pros: Great Memphis BBQ Cons: Ambiance, lack of sides selection more

Grew up in Memphis and used to eat here often. Liked other places better, Jim Neely's, Payne's, John Will's, Corky's, but always respected Charlie Vergos and what he built. Ate there tonight first time in 22 years. The ribs were not great quality; very stringy, heavy bone, poorly trimmed. I'd have rather had ribs at Chilis. Long wait, spotty service, warm beer. Sorry to say they need to get back to what made them great. more

They have excellent dry rub ribs and darn good bbq nachos. As long as you don't mind the wait to get in, you won't have to wait long to get your food. The servers are friendly, but fast. Yes they will try to get each table turned over quickly, but with a place this popular.....that's what you'd expect. Price a little bit much for the amout of food, but it's not always about quantity. You can skip the sausage and cheese plate there and make it at home....they sell the seasoning at most of the grocery stores there. Pros: lunch on friday....walked right in and sat down Cons: parking at lunch on friday......deck was horrible more

I can't believe some of these poor ratings. I live in Arkansas but lived in Memphis 20 years. I'm currently doing a photography book on Memphis so have been returning often. I have eaten at the Rendezvous 3 or 4 times this year. I have cooked in Memphis in May, tasted the World's Champion Ribs that won Memphis in May in about 1993 [Apple City BBQ]... It is simply not true, these reviews. ""the Rendezvous"" has the Best Ribs in any Restaurant anywhere. more

we just moved here, WHY are some of these OLD reviews still on here???? Pros: NOTHING Cons: EVERYTHING more

I don't want to be overly harsh, but how the he** is this place in business ????? Are visitors to Memphis or the locals that stupid ?? I hope not, and I don't think they are really... Pros: There are no 'pros' !!!!!!! Cons: Just aboout EVERYTHING more

Soooo disappointed. It's just living off its name. I go to BBQ in every town I visit, and I thought this was supposed to be a good representative of the legendary Memphis BBQ scene. It must just stay open by preying on BBQ naive tourists... it wasn't awful but definitely was not good. Add to that the high price and it becomes an terrible experience. My wife and I live near Memphis, and have gone three times over the course of 18 months, hoping we were just getting unlucky. But no, this place just does not have it. The icing on the cake is that the poor food is brought to you with arrogant service. Pros: You'll be better at spotting tourist traps in the future Cons: Most of all the food, poor service a close second more

I was disappointed with the Rendezvous. Not so much because it wasn't good but because I had been told it was great...and it wasn't. Pros: Convenient when downtown Cons: Not the best ribs, pricey more

I have eaten at Rendezvous over a dozen times. Never had any trouble parking (garage is right across the alley). I have always had nothing but great service. The ribs are simply the best. I have tried ribs in numerous other restaurants throughout the U.S. and none of them come close to matching up with Rendezvous. They are so good that when I can't make the 4 hour drive I simply order them at their website. I will keep going back until they close their doors. At which point, I will have to purchase the place to keep it open. Pros: The service and the food are the best! Cons: Not having one in St. Louis more

It's obvious that there seems to be an effort to prop up the reputation of this dump on this website and other travel forums. Everyone has an opinion and that's a good thing, but it seems to me that there is a covert effort to 'STUFF THE BALLOT BOX' to suggest that the quality of food served at The Rendevous 'deserves' some kind of local or national 'respect' when none is really due. Pros: Nothing, there is no 'pro' Cons: food, service is disturbingly awful more

I had never heard of the rendezvous until 3 years ago! I have lived in memphis all of my life! I would prefer rendezvous ribs, sausage and cheese plate, bbq chicken, bbq shrimp, beans, coleslaw, cheese, pickles, ect. over anyone in memphis. Yes, it may be a little pricey, but it is damn worth it! The people that talk about the ribs being so horrible, that is b/c they obviously dont know what a dry rub rib is! Most place that serve wet ribs (example: corky's), yeah the meat is a little more tender but it is not as good. At the rendezvous, they cook very slowly in a pit and then are dipped in vinegar and covered in there famous rubbed, so of course they tend to be a little bit tougher, but the are covered with meat on each bone. They are by far, the most amazing ribs i have ever had. They also have amazing dry rub/seasoning... whatever you want to call it and the sauce is superb. They are a little high in price but work every penny! The outside may not look so nice, but they have 3 or 4 levels to that place, and it is huge and amazing. The waiters are a little rough around the edges... i will gave you that, but they put up with a lot of stuff and they bust their butts for you, so chances are if you get over your... stuck up selves think your better than them and you dont treat them like freaking slaves, they are going to have fun and be friendly and joke with you! Little Robert is the best of them all i think! He enjoys having fun with his customers! So next time, know what your talking about before you just go thinking things about food that arent neccesarily true but to an extent they have a reason to be kind of tough! Give reviews to help people out, not to show that you think your a tough or something! To you viewers that want to know if it is worth it or not, everyone has an opinion, and everyone likes different things, but i think you should go try it whether you are a visitor to memphis or not. It is an experience thhat you will be happy you took a chance on! Pros: everything, except maybe the parking Cons: maybe the parking gets a little hectic sometimes! more

How this dump on CitySearch gets a '9.3' rating is beyond rationality for anyone with functional, unburnt off tastebuds. Sorry, but there's a reason why informed visitors and patrons say bad things about this place. Among them are: Pros: Pros ??? you're kidding right?? Cons: just about everything more

Ok, I'm not sure what the people that post negative things about this place was expecting, but my visit lived up to all the good things that I was told this place would be. The dry rub ribs had tender meat to them, the only slightly chewy part was the charred outside of the meat. It is my understanding that this is how authentic dry rub ribs are suppose to be. They had wonderful flavor and the BBQ sauces that were provided made a nice complement to the ribs. Ditto to those of you that recommended the cheese and sausage plate. We went a step further and ordered what I believed was called the Rendevous Platter that also has some ham, salami, pickles, pepperocinis. The sides of mustard coleslaw and baked beans were great as well. As for the paper plates, yes it's true, they do serve everything on paper plates. But the last time I checked, you don't eat paper plates do you? So what do you care?! By the way, we also had their Greek salad which is large enough for 2-3 people to share. I'm not exactly sure how a Greek salad fits into the menu, but it was a nice addition to the heaviness of the other food items. Wash this all down with the pitchers of beer they serve and your in for some good eats! There was a total of 6 of us in the party and the total bill with 5 pitchers of beer was $240. I should also mention that this also included two extra slabs of ribs because we liked them so much. (big eaters should consider ordering 3 slabs for every two people) I personally consider this a fair price for how stuffed we all were when we left. Last but not least, the service is a little rough around the edges, but this is part of the experiance in going. Don't expect them to ""baby"" you through dinner. You are not at some stuffy ""pretty food"" restaurant here! more

For a place that came so highly recommended, I was very disappointed. The ribs were very tough- felt like I was eating 'jerky'. The sides- beans and slaw- were fine. more

My family has talked about this resturant for years but I had never been with them. We live 2 hours away and I could not imagine that it would be worth the drive, especially since I don't like dry ribs. However, I decided to go with them one night. We waited 30 minutes but after all, there were 20 of us. But the ribs were on the table within 10 minutes of ordering. They fall off the bone and are so tender. And for the person who says the onlly two choices are wet and dry, that is crazy. One, they don't seerve wet at all. Two, they have pulled pork and shrimp that I have also tried and are wonderful but don't compare to the ribs. We go up several times a year and we have never been disappointed more

Average food that is over priced and very rude service. I was very, very disappointed. more

Yes the ribs are wonderful, and the waiters are superb, but what no one tells you about are the wonderful barbecued shrimp. You have to call a day in advance to put in your order because they simmer for the whole day, and are so wonderfully merrinated when you get them you might just fall out of your chair. My family drives from southern Illinois to Memphis (4-5 hours) just to get a taste of these phenominal shrimp. The waiters come from a time when everything was yes sir no sir, and are some of the nicest in the city. Ever since my first trip to the Rendezvous my family has had the same waiter, Alfred. I can not think of enough posetive things to say about the Rendezvous, it is just an overall wonderfull expierience. more